Eggs are one of the most widely consumed food products in the world. In addition to being a nutritional food source in their own right, eggs are also widely used in a variety of culinary applications, including savory and sweet baking and cooking applications. For example, eggs are essential ingredients in the production of many baked goods, including cakes, breads, muffins, etc., as well as custards, and emulsifications, such as dressings and sauces. Eggs are useful in these applications because they provide a wide range of culinary properties, such as leavening, thickening, binding, coagulating, emulsifying and moisturizing.
However, despite being a good source of protein and providing other nutritional benefits, eggs are also high in cholesterol, and sometimes carry dangerous pathogens, such as Salmonella and Escherichia coli. Consequently, many people opt to avoid eating eggs in an effort to avoid ingesting the pathogens, and to minimize the risk of adverse long-term health problems from the consumption of high levels of cholesterol (e.g., cardiovascular disease). Additionally, many people are allergic to eggs, and some people eliminate eggs from their diet for personal or religious reasons. For example, a growing number of people are subscribing to a vegan diet, which excludes animal products, including eggs.
Given the growing number of people avoiding the consumption of eggs, a number of egg replacement or egg substitute products have been introduced. However, of these products, some are made with actual egg whites, and others are suitable for only certain applications. For example, Egg Beaters® (Conagra Foods, Inc.) are made from real egg whites, and therefore may carry some risk of pathogen content, and are not suitable for those following a vegan diet. Other powdered egg replacement products are egg-free, but do not provide some of the culinary properties of eggs, for example binding and moisturizing. As such, many of the powdered products on the market are not suitable egg replacements for many culinary applications. Additionally, these powdered egg replacement products typically cannot be used to prepare “eggs” or “egg dishes,” such as scrambled eggs or omelets.